Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Many race fans will be familiar with this circuit and in 2015, the Formula One series returned to Mexico. But what do you know about the brothers after which the circuit is named? Theirs is a story that shouldn’t be forgotten. Pedro Rodríguez was born in 1940 in Mexico City. He had three brothers and a sister. However, the other brother who is also commemorated in the name of this circuit was his...
Didier Peroni and Gilles Villeneuve
Team orders in Formula One. At time of writing (July 2016) there’s a lot of mayhem going on about imposing team orders at the Mercedes Formula One HQ. Now team orders are a subject of a very long article, or even a book, but today I want to talk about motorsport history — and the team orders at the Grand Prix of Imola in 1982. In that year, Didier Pironi of France and Canadian Gilles Villeneuve were team-mates driving for...
Who Was Rolf Stommelen?
Who was Rolf Stommelen? He was a successful Formula One driver whose racing life was dogged by tragedy.He raced in the days when motorsport safety was absolutely non-existent to the standards we are used to seeing today. Those were the days when Jackie Stewart (and the phrase was later borrowed by Ron Howard) said that ‘sex was safe and motorsport was dangerous’. Sadly, he is probably best known today for being involved in...
Giovanna Amati
The kidnapping of Giovanna Amati. If you were a Formula One fan in the early nineteen nineties then you’ll remember Giovanna as a driver for the doomed Brabham team. The team, which started in the nineteen sixties, had been successful but by the time Giovanna (only the fifth female driver in Formula One) was recruited Brabham was in trouble. It’s thought that Giovanna was signed up by the team not only because she was...
Who Was Helle Nice?
The strange story of Helle Nice. Helle Nice: The forgotten story. By 1984 Helle Nice was an old lady. She lived in a rather squalid room in Paris. She knew that she hadn’t got long to live. She’d been born in at the same time as the century. She had her memories and not much more. She kept her mementoes in an old tin trunk under her shabby bed. Nowadays, she survived thanks to charity. But it didn’t seem too long ago...
Woolf Barnato
Who was Woolf Barnato? When Woolf was just two years old, he became the heir to a vast fortune. His father had been a Jewish shopkeeper made good – he made a fortune from South African diamonds and gold. Unfortunately Barnato Senior did not enjoy his wealth for long as in 1897, he was lost overboard off the coast of Madeira at the age of forty six. Just what happened will never be known but foul play was suspected, as was...
Sheila van Damm
Racy Ladies: Sheila van Damm. Sheila van Damm’s career was interesting to say the least. She was known in the nineteen fifties as Britain’s top woman rally driver and by the nineteen sixties she was running ‘naughty’ reviews on the London stage. Yet she arrived at both careers accidentally. You will most probably have heard of the famous Windmill Theatre in London. It shot to fame in the wartime years as it was...
The Le Mans Disaster 1955
Le Mans, 1955. The prestigious and exciting Twenty Four Hours of Le Mans race, or Les 24 Heures du Mans, is the oldest sportscar race in the world, having been run since 1923. It is also one of the most dangerous. Twenty two drivers have died there in total but this figure doesn’t include serious injury or other personnel such as marshals, track employees and spectators. The worst of these events was the 1955 Le Mans race when a...
Who is Helmut Marko?
Who is Helmut Marko? In recent years, Formula One fans grew accustomed to the sight of Austrian Helmut Marko looking proudly on as his protege, Sebastian Vettel, was on the podium when he drove for Red Bull Racing. But who is he? What’s his background? He qualified as a lawyer but did you know that he was once a Formula One driver himself? His record comes nowhere close to that of ‘his boy’ Vettel- he scored no...
Speed Records at Daytona Beach
Early speed trials at Daytona, Florida. The name of Barney Oldfield was making headlines on March 16th, 1907. They proclaimed that he was the ‘speed king of the world’. At that time, the public – and experts -pondered about that sort of speeds the human body could endure and Oldfield – seen on the right – had just become the fastest human being on earth. He had driven his Benz at over one hundred and...
Why Is There No Friday At Monaco?
Why don’t they have Friday at Monaco? Of course, they have Fridays. They don’t have a six-day week that goes – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. That would be daft. But to new fans of Formula One, it’s quite a common question and one that we experienced afficionados are accustomed to. It sounds like a silly question but it makes perfect sense to us. You see, when the Formula One...
The Superga Air Disaster
In May 1949, a man who couldn’t get his passport renewed, another who was ill with influenza and an injured footballer were the luckiest men in Italy. For they could not be on the trip when their colleagues in the Torino football team all perished in a tragic air crash when they were on their way back from playing a friendly match in Lisbon. When the accident happened, on May 4th, there were thirty one people in the plane....
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna: Early years. For many of us, Ayrton Senna was the greatest racing driver ever. Even those who aren’t race enthusiasts know that the World Champion Brazilian was tragically killed racing at Imola in 1994. But what about his early life? Ayrton Senna: Ten things you might not know It’s often said that Ayrton was from a wealthy background but that’s relative. It’s true that for many people in his...
The Yorkshireman and the Sahara
Eric Jackson: Petrol in My Blood If you’re looking for a great read, full of adventure, humour and history, then I definitely recommend Petrol in My Blood by Eric Jackson. This is the autobiography of a Yorkshireman, born in a gipsy caravan in 1924, who started life with humble origins. Written when the author was in his eighties, the book spans generations and it’s a miracle that, because of his adventures, that he...
Graham Hill
Graham Hill On December 5th, 1975, racing driver Graham Hill was due to appear at a ceremony at which the British Racing Drivers Club was going to honor his achievements as a racing driver. Hill had won the Grand Prix Championship, the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours race during his racing career. But instead, over two thousand of his friends and colleagues attended his funeral. He had retired from racing just five months...
Alberto Ascari
Ascari’s lucky racing helmet. Alberto Ascari was born in Italy in 1918. By the time he started motor racing as a young man, it was one of the most dangerous occupations in Europe. He knew this because his own father – also a racing driver – had been killed when Alberto was only seven years old. By the mid nineteen fifties, Alberto had twice won the Formula One World Championship and was looking forward to continuing...
Formula 1 – A Beginner’s Guide
Top 5 things you should know about F1 With Lewis Hamilton defending his third drivers’ championship win from 2015 and a few new rule changes, there’s a lot of interest in Formula One in 2016 and I thought perhaps for those of you who don’t know the sport, a bit of background might be useful. I’ve been watching Formula One for as long as I can remember, certainly from an early age, as I recall who won the 1976 drivers’ championship...
Art Matters: L.S. Lowry on Match Day
Andy Royston’s back on the terraces with one of England’s most beloved painters, L.S. Lowry. One cold and rainy evening in West London I found myself wandering towards a set of bright floodlights shining above the houses. Brentford FC were playing Gillingham in some cup game and Griffin Park was offering tickets on the turnstiles. So in I went, picked up a cup of Bovril from the Ealing Road end and, as the drizzle faded...
The Man in Black: The Legend of Dale Earnhardt
The Man in Black: The Legend of Dale Earnhardt. It was on the third lap of the 2002 Daytona 500 that the tribute began. Fans stood silently as the NASCAR field thundered on. Fittingly the leading cars, the silver 29 and the NAPA 15 were both owned by Dale Earnhardt Incorporated – and the fans held hands aloft with three fingers high. The intent was to remember friends and heroes but at that moment they had only one man in mind....
The Busby Babes & the Munich Air Disaster
The Busby Babes & the Munich Air Disaster. A plane accident in 1958 took the lives of eight football players from the Manchester United team. Two others were so badly injured that they never played again. Staff from the football club died too, as did several respected sports journalists. The football players in the Manchester United team who were killed were all in their twenties, the youngest being twenty-one. The team was known...
Keep Fighting Michael
Michael Schumacher #KeepFightingMichael Safety in the world of motorsport has made huge strides in the last few decades. And yet Michael Schumacher, the most successful racing driver of the modern era, is fighting for his life. But not due to an accident on the track. On 29 December 2013, having retired from racing, Schumacher was enjoyed one of his favourite sports and was skiing in the French Alps. He fell and received a serious...
You’ll Never Walk Alone – Justice for the 96.
Andy Royston remembers the 96. (originally published by Ayup Online Magazine, 2000). For English football fans it is a moment etched in the memory, something never to be forgotten. The moment we heard the news. 96 lives lost in a crush of people at an FA Cup Semi-final football match taking place at the Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield. A moment we’ll never forget. The moment when the game stopped. The occasion was supposed to be...
The Lives and Loves of Violette Morris
The curious life of Violette Morris See this chap here? Well actually, this is Violette Morris; not a chap after all but a Frenchwoman who was born in 1893. She rose to fame as a sportswoman, excelling in those sports that require strength and power such as shot put and javelin. She was also keen on boxing, soccer and, as you can see in the photograph here, motor racing. Violette wasn’t just a tomboy, she was a confirmed...
Who Was Eugenio Castellotti?
Racing driver Eugenio Castellotti. Eugenio started racing in 1952, an era in which racing drivers didn’t have a long life expectancy. Indeed it was only three years later that his friend, driving legend Alberto Ascari was killed in an accident on track – in Eugenio’s car and wearing Eugenio’s helmet. Although the lack of safety in motorsport in those days seems horrifying to us now, the drivers and teams were...
Who Was Luigi Musso?
Racing driver Luigi Musso. Luigi was born in 1924 in Rome and by the time he was thirty years old he had joined the team that was every Italian male’s dream – Scuderia Ferrari. He was following in the footsteps of two Italian drivers who had also driven for the team – Alberto Ascari and Eugenio Castellotti. Neither Ascari or Castellotti had survived the dangerous world of Formula One racing; Ascari was thirty six...
Those Loftus Road Nights
Night time matches were the best. Early evening I’d head up into the setting sun to East Acton where my young mate Hiro lived, then we’d walk back down to the Bush and join the gathering crowds. We never missed a home game and took in a few away trips too. We’d started going to games back when Rangers were really good, “top team in London” under the guidance of coach Gerry Francis and led by the mighty...
All Time Hero: Jack Johnson
We learn and grow, we make heroes of our own. For me, being a child of the 60s there were astronauts and civil rights leaders, soccer stars and Olympic champs. Gran loved her music, so Nat King Cole, Paul Robeson and Ray Charles were high on my list. Dad’s a big sports fan, and Cassius Clay impressed as much by his trash talking as his skills in the ring. The undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. If someone wanted to...
Eric Jackson: The Chieftain Rally 1973
Eric Jackson: Chieftain Rally 1973 Rally driver Eric Jackson was strictly a Ford man. The only recorded competition car he drove that wasn’t a Ford was a Vauxhall in the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally. So it’s not surprising that when Jacko had ‘the big one’ – the rally accident that nearly finished him off – he was driving a Ford Escort. Here’s a photograph of how he managed to rearrange the car:...
Who Was Gertrude Ederle?
Gertrude, or Trudy as she was more usually known, was a sportswoman who should have been famous and remembered today but despite her achievements she faded into obscurity. In the 1920s she was seen as a pioneer in showing the world that women were not ‘the weaker sex’. Strangely, women were still considered to be so. Gertrude was the first woman to swim the English Channel She was the first woman to do so and she...
World Cup Heroes: Jimmy Greaves
From the point of view of a ten year old in the thrall of World Cup football it was hard to believe that Jimmy Greaves – that amiable joker on Saturday lunchtime telly, where he presented a football show called ‘On The Ball’ – was a genuine England football legend. Dad was sanguine. “You should have seen him play back in the day. He was amazing. He would have been playing in that 1966 World Cup Final if...
Bernie Ecclestone and the Great Train Robbery
Bernie Ecclestone and the Great Train Robbery: The Truth. For many years, a rumour has persisted that the Formula One boss, Bernie Ecclestone, was somehow involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1963. It has often been thought that robber Bruce Reynolds was the mastermind behind this audacious robbery but nevertheless many people thought that it was exactly Bernie’s cup of tea. Most of the robbers were in their early thirties and...
Jenson Button
Jenson Button – early years Formula One driver Jenson Button might seem to have everything today but his early life was very different. Jenson makes no bones about it- he owes his success to his father, John. At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that the photograph on the left is Jenson – but no, it’s his dad taken in 1978. John too was a racing driver. When his son showed interest, it was John who...
Formula One: Fathers and Sons
Formula One Trivia. As far as I’m aware, and at time of writing, there have been fifteen Formula One drivers whose sons have driven in Grand Prix races. If you know of more, please let me know in the comment section below. (And see below for the list – before you look though, can you name them all?) Personally, I would love to live long enough to see the daughter of a Grand Prix racer (preferably of a female driver) lining...
Michael Who? – When England Beat Germany
“Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.” Gary Lineker Fifteen years on, Andy Royston remembers a memorable day in English football history, and a mad Florida house party. One sunny day back in 2001 I was minding my own business in a Florida swimming pool just a linebacker’s throw from the Gulf of Mexico. A friend had just come back from the beach holding a hammerhead shark...
The Science of Hitting: Book by Baseball Great Ted Williams
The Science of Hitting: Book by Baseball Great Ted Williams. Just how great of a hitter was Ted Williams? He’s the only hitter that anyone could try to argue was as good or better than Babe Ruth.Ted Williams had an amazing career interrupted by some service for the USA as a soldier during World War II and the Korean War. Despite these significant interruptions, his career totals in many hitting categories are astounding. One of his...
Formula One: Brothers
Formula One Trivia. How many pairs of brothers have raced in Formula One? Have you read the JAQUO article about fathers and sons who have taken part in F1? Did that make you wonder about brothers who have done the same? At time of writing, there have been six sets of brothers — well, seven, sort of — well, seven and a half, kind of….. But before we get into the details, see how many you can name before scrolling...
The Dutch Grand Prix: 1973
Roger Williamson and David Purley. Motorsport is still very dangerous but in times gone by, racing drivers faced situations that thankfully couldn’t happen today. In the early post-war era, it was almost accepted that half the drivers in Formula One wouldn’t survive the season. But one of the most horrific accidents happened in 1973 at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Roger Williamson’s crash was the seventh fatal...
Looking for Accommodation for the Monte Carlo or Monza Grand Prix?
Going to the Monte Carlo or Monza Grand Prix? Where to stay. Monte Carlo and Monza are words guaranteed to rev up every petrolhead’s heartbeat. They are places inextricably linked to the roar of the engine, and the thrill of the competition. Sure, Monte Carlo is also a playground for the rich and famous, and Monza is a beautiful, historic town perfect for the cultured tourist, but it’s motor racing that makes them special. From all...
Formula One Books You May Not Have Read
Now you may be an F1 fan yourself or perhaps you’re looking for a gift for someone you know who regularly talks about the ‘F1 season’, ‘winter testing’ or ‘this year’s championship’ and I bet it’s getting harder and harder to find something different. Well maybe I can help you out. I’ve been following formula one since I was little – and I mean little. At the age Lewis Hamilton started karting I’d been following the sport for at least...
Marco Andretti
Marco Andretti: The third generation Marco is an Indycar driver and the latest in the line of the famous Andretti family. Marco, his father Michael and his grandfather Mario, despite their legendary name, are all modest, quite shy and truly delightful people. Their passion is racing. The family originates from Croatia, which at the time of Mario’s birth was part of Italy. Today, the entire family see themselves as American...
Twenty Safety Tips for Outdoor Exploration
As someone who has loved exploring wilderness areas all my life, mostly in California, here are my safety tips. Also below are some links to articles I’ve created about how to deal with specific plants and animals that are potentially harmful. Twenty safety tips: Know how to identify and avoid harmful plants and animals in the area you are exploring. Wear sturdy boots that cover ankles, and long pants. This greatly helps...
City Girls
Think football (or soccer) and you think men: men shouting, waving, cheering, chanting, booing. But here in my home city, Bradford, West Yorkshire, many female fans of all ages attend both home and away matches. They come with their male partners or spouses, they come in female pairs, they come with their kids or grandchildren, and some come on their own. And they can be as passionate as the men about the game. In 2015 a local...
Peter Procter
Peter Procter: Motorsport safety. Peter is the chap in the photograph you see on the right. He’s the one wearing glasses. This was taken at some time in the nineteen nineties and to the casual observer, there is nothing remarkable about these two men. He and Eric Jackson – on the right in the photograph – are friends from way back when and both have fascinating stories to tell. Both men are from Yorkshire and in...
Forza! Ferrari gifts
Ferrari gifts We know that Ferrari produces the most fabulous cars but did you know about the other luxury Ferrari items you can buy? The backgammon set on the left is a lovely example. Fans of Scuderia Ferrari – the motorsport division – are often to be seen wearing the marque’s merchandise and yes, the t-shirts, hats, jackets and children’s clothing produced by the company are wonderful. But there’s so...
Top books for Formula One fans
Formula One books for every fan or enthusiast Are you looking for a gift for someone who loves Formula One motor racing? Or are you – like me – a fan yourself? There are so many books available about the sport today that it’s difficult to know where to start, especially if you’re looking for gifts. You see,part of the problem is that many fans have an affinity to particular drivers or teams. If you don’t...
Mercedes fan?
Mercedes fan? Dress the part Sport isn’t generally known for being stylish but Formula One is the exception. This is only to be expected for the series that travels to some of the most wonderful, glamorous places in the world. Motorsport is no longer associated with greasy, dirty overalls and smelly fumes – today, racing has style. Even the mechanics are impeccably turned out and have you seen those garages? They are more...
Where to buy Petrol in My Blood
Where to buy Petrol in My Blood by Eric Jackson Eric Jackson’s biography, Petrol in My Blood, is available worldwide. Below, you’ll find the links for most of the sites from which you can buy this true adventure story. Worldwide shipping direct from the publisher You can buy both hardcover or paperback versions of the book directly from the publisher. The company has distribution plants in the USA, Europe, the UK and...
Fernando Alonso: Testing accident 2015
Fernando Alonso: Testing accident 2015 If you know me at all,then you are aware that all Formula One drivers -past, present and more than likely future – are heroes in my eyes. Although like most F1 aficionados, I will secretly admit to having particular favourites, one of which is Fernando Alonso. That’s why I’m very puzzled by the testing accident he had in February 2015. With the season starting in just a few...
Top 5 Things to Do During The Superbowl
Top 5 Things to Do During The Superbowl. In the USA, the Superbowl, originally a clever commercial construct, has become a de facto national holiday—and a celebration of commerce beyond the pale. Columbus Day (or Invasion Day, depending on one’s genotype) is old hat—let the helmeted game begin. For those not so easily amused, one can use this to his advantage by visiting normally congested venues during game time. It’s a good way to...
Le Tour (de France) Comes to Town
Le Tour of God’s Own Country. In 2014 the Tour de France started in the mighty, magnificent English region of Yorkshire, and came right through the middle of our small town on the second day. I would find it difficult to identify individual competitors and say much about them. But what I do know is that this is a great sporting event of endurance, guts and stamina – and was one that shook our peaceful community in a...
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